Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight hit by late change day before rematch

‘s eagerly anticipated rematch with has seen an unexpected change in the judging panel after one of the judges fell ill.

New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld has stepped in to replace Miami’s Fernando Barbosa who wasn’t able to make it to Riyadh for the bout. Alongside Weisfeld, American Patrick Morley and Puerto Rico’s Gerardo Martinez will score the fight, with their fellow countryman Roberto Ramirez officiating as referee.

During the initial encounter last May, Usyk emerged victorious with scores of 114-113 from Mike Fitzgerald and 115-112 from Manuel Oliver Palomo favouring Usyk, while Craig Metcalfe marked it 114-113 to Fury. Determined to settle the score, Fury is set to confront his heavyweight rival Usyk once more in the ring this Saturday night in Riyadh.

In a surprising twist ahead of the WBA, WBO, and WBC heavyweight showdown, the Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh revealed that an unprecedented fourth official will be scoring the fight using AI technology—promising a bias-free and error-free judgment provided by The Ring. Alalshikh took to social media to announce this historic trial which will not influence the official results, as the final decision will still rest upon the three ringside judges should the fight complete the 12 rounds.

He expressed the innovation on social media, “For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight. Free from bias and human error brought to you by The Ring. This groundbreaking experiment, which won’t impact the official results, debuts during the biggest fight of the century, #Usyk2Fury, on December 21. Don’t miss history in the making.”

Fury was defeated by Usyk in their initial encounter in May, which saw a dramatic shift in momentum during the ninth round when the Ukrainian fighter took control. Despite losing on two of the judges’ scorecards, with only one judge favouring Fury, he remains confident heading into the rematch where three of the four world titles will be at stake.

He insists that he doesn’t need to drastically alter his strategy to reclaim his title. “I’m just going to use my boxing, like I did last time. I’m not going to do anything drastic, like a total change of gameplan because it’s not needed,” he stated. “If it was five, six or seven rounds the opposite way and it was a landslide, then fine. Then I’d have to change something drastically. But because it was a very close fight, I don’t really need to change much. I just need to be a little bit more focused and that’s it really. Why would I change something when I had control of the fight for maybe 80 per cent of it? “

He added: “I’m landing on him at will, head and body, lead right uppercuts, left hooks, right hooks to the body. Doubles at times. I don’t feel I need to change anything. I don’t think Usyk will change either because his key to victory has to be coming forward. He ain’t going to outbox me on the back foot. It’s not possible. So he has to come forward and make a fight of it.”